Tide and Effect

The frantic banging of hooves on the door rang through the wagon as Trixie awoke suddenly.

“Huh!? What?!” she sleepily yelled out, pulling her head off her pillow only to immediately stub her horn on the suitcase she’d placed above her head.

“Ow, fuck!” She cried in pain and frustration as she rolled out of her hammock and onto the floor, almost slipping on a stack of crushed-up hard cider cans. She dizzily regained balance as she tried to make her way to the wagon door through the dark, yelling out to stop whoever it was from banging so loudly.

“Yeah yeah! I’m coming, just hold your… you. What is it?” She yelled as she opened the wagon’s back window, immediately regretting it as the blindingly bright outdoors made her recoil back into the shade. Through the harsh light, Trixie made out the outline of a pegasus pony with a red mane excitedly holding one of her promotional posters.

“Oh, uh, h-hi there! Trixie, the Great and Powerful?” The pegasus said nervously, unsure of how to proceed.

The unicorn lazily held her eyes half-shut, trying to ignore her throbbing headache as she smiled smugly.

“Mmyes'm, speaking.” She said calmly.

“I’m Strawberry Sunrise, Big Fan! It's nice to meet you!” The pegasus giggled excitedly, stomping her hooves and accidentally dropping the poster she was holding. She clumsily then bent down and picked it up with her mouth.

“I wrj wrdring if I crd hrv yrr rrtogrph?” She said with the poster in her mouth.

Trixie fumbled with a pair of star-shaped sunglasses hanging on a hook near the door, before levitating the poster to herself.

“Of course, anything for a big fan!” she said, levitating herself a pen and quill to sign the poster with. Her smile became far more genuine as she looked over her own poster. It was nice to interact with someone who seemed to love her magic as much as she does.

“Oh thank goodness, I was worried I’d be too late, but thankfully there wasn’t a line,” Strawberry offhandedly mentioned while Trixie scribbled her signature.

“Too late?” Trixie asked.

“Yeah, I bought tickets for your show in a couple hours, and I know you tend to be kinda busy after the show so I figured I’d try to catch you before. I’m so glad I did. You’re even more amazing in person!” Strawberry explained.

“Wait a couple HOURS?” Trixie said worriedly, she spins around suddenly to see the clock and the calendar, knocking over the inkwell, spilling it all over the poster.

The calendar said there was a show at 8:00 PM and right now it was 6:00. Trixie didn’t remember this, but she had stayed up until 5 AM last night drunkenly singing ballads to herself and crying, before proceeding to sleep for another 13 hours. The magician briefly gazed at her hammock as she realized she had been so drunk she pissed herself and hadn’t been able to clean herself up.

Her stomach dropped as she realized that rehearsal had been 2 hours ago and it was likely they wouldn’t let her use the stage again after this. She blinked through her fabulous shades as her brain caught back up to the present moment, glancing briefly at Strawberry who was staring at the ground, still waiting patiently for the poster Trixie had just ruined. The unicorn turned to see that the ink had spilled in such a way that almost all the text on the poster was unreadable save for Trixie’s signature. Her improvisation skills came in handy as she gave the poster back to Strawberry, still dripping with Ink, while she worked out a clever way to spin it.

“Well, I spilled some ink, but, my signature is on there, plus it’s one of a kind. Keep it in mint condition and you could sell it for a ton of money in a decade or so,” Trixie said smartly. “...Anyways, thanks for stopping by, I’m a little late and I’ve got-to-go.”

Trixie then slammed the window shut in the pegasus’ face, slumping against the wall as she began to hyperventilate, wondering how on earth she was going to get ready for the performance in less than two hours.

After a shower and a shave Trixie was off like a bolt through the streets of Applewood, donning her shades and earmuffs to counteract the throbbing headache. She got a few awkward stares on the way backstage almost 3 hours after rehearsal time. There she greeted Amethyst Star, the event organizer. The rattiness of her mane and eye-bags told Trixie that she had been working for almost 7 hours by the time Trixie showed up and she was very, very pissed about it.

"Glad you could join us, you're late!" She yelled as Trixie closed the door behind her.

"Whatever, obviously I ran into something, sorry to be so inconvenient." Trixie said, speed walking over to the coffee machine as Amethyst hastily stuffed fireworks into a spinning display

"You said you would be here early to do a soundcheck and do hair and makeup. I had to do the soundcheck myself and they're already lining up outside and- are you fucking hungover?" Amethyst sputtered angrily.

Trixie silently poured herself an overflowing cup of coffee before downing it like a shot as fast as possible.

"Well, as they say, the show must go on!" Trixie said confidently, raising her glass to Amethyst, who gave a scowl in response.

"You didn't exactly make my life easier with the pizza thing. This isn't how publicity works, oh Great and Punctual." Amethyst said holding up the promotional poster.

"...Pizza?" Trixie said absent-mindedly as she studied the poster. At the very bottom was text that read "free piza with admishun." The magician's heart sank even further, she was definitely blackout drunk when she wrote that.

"Yeah, pizza, I ordered 7 of them because I wasn't sure of the turnout and honestly I don't think ticket prices are gonna cover it. I hope you've got an extra 100 bits lying around or else you'll be hurting for an organizer when this is over" Amethyst said.

Trixie looked around for an excuse, found none and just looked down at the floor.
"I'm sorry..." she said.

"I don't need 'sorry' I need you. Hair and makeup, now!" Amethyst said, pointing in the direction of the makeup chair.

With a 15 bit entrance fee, the turnout was relatively modest even with the free pizza. Trixie had been performing in Applewood for a few years now, getting her start as a street busker and moving her way up. The population of the place meant that for many this was the first Trixie show they'd ever seen. Most of the tricks were basically just rudimentary unicorn magic, but Trixies performance allowed ponies to think they were much more impressive than they were. One unicorn in the audience smiled to herself smartly. She knew how Trixie was doing all these tricks, it was just simple misdirection most of the time. She didn't buy the whole "Great and Powerful" thing.

At one point in the show Trixie asked for a volunteer to pick a card. That one was at the very least simple to pull off, either counting cards or stacking the deck. But for a moment the audience was transfixed as Trixie shuffled the deck once again. The music seemed to rumble the whole stage as the lights dimmed in neon pinks and purples. The fog machine shrouded Trixie in mystery, though she was still visible as she "called upon her magic powers" to find the right card. The music swelled as the lights went up and Trixie presented the correct card to the audience to the astonishment of the volunteer. The audience erupted in cheers and applause as Trixie swished her cape dramatically. Even though many of them knew how the trick was done, the spectacle was still astounding.

For the big Finale, Trixie lifted up a curtain for the volunteer to hide behind and the fireworks went off as she dropped it to reveal they had disappeared from the stage. The pyrotechnics shot off into the sky with whistles as they spelled out the words Great and Powerful in the night air. Trixie bowed as the curtain closed and the show ended. She then moved to undo the latch on the trapdoor in the stage where she had dropped the volunteer. He nervously stood up as Trixie held out her hoof to help him out with a wink.

"The shows over, you did amazing! You're good to go out to the audience now. Thank you for your participation." She said smiling.

The stallion dusted himself off as he stepped onstage and through the curtain. "...It was dark and musty in there." He muttered.

Trixie then gleefully made her way backstage, utterly fulfilled by a show saved from disaster, only to be greeted by a completely empty room. On the table was a note:

"Went for drinks with the tech crew. Turns out I can't cover use of the stage so that's on you too. All I know is management said you need to be out of here by morning and to leave the money here. That means all your shit. Thanks for nothing.

See ya never,
-Amethyst"

Trixie sighed sadly as she realized basically all of the profit she had just made would go to use of the stage and the pizza. In the soft buzzing of the lights, she stood for a moment, longingly staring at the celebratory bottle of champagne they had popped without her.